


He Keeps My Heart From Getting Broken

by BlackWolf105



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Bear to the Rescue, F/F, Homophobia, Homophobic Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 04:22:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17932748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackWolf105/pseuds/BlackWolf105
Summary: Root and Shaw encounter a rather rude couple while walking Bear in the park, and Bear decides he doesn't like when people mess with his family.





	He Keeps My Heart From Getting Broken

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Hold Each Other by Great Big World.  
> There are mentions of homophobic language, so if that is a trigger, please be careful and take care of yourself.  
> I really hope you like this, comments and kudos are appreciated!

“Come on, Bear.” Shaw pulled on the leash, drawing the large dog’s attention from the abandoned hotdog on the ground; why someone would dump their left overs on the ground was a complete mystery to Shaw. One it was rude and sort of disgusting, and two, who the hell didn’t finish their food?

Giving the leash another tug, Bear bounded after her as she continued the walk; John was off working  - his day job, not a number – and Finch had gotten annoyed at Shaw’s constant fiddling with her side arm in the subway, so he’d sent her out to walk Bear, and so far, Shaw was having a pretty good time.

It sun was hot against her back, her leather jacket warming nicely in the light, but the slight wind kept it just cold enough that she wasn’t overheating. Add Bear, a cup of coffee (long since finished), and a few hours without someone nagging in her ear, and she was… content.

She watched as Bear ran in front of her, going as far as his leash would allow, before stopping, his nose snuffling the ground as he tried to smell everything around them.

“Better be careful, Sweetie, it almost looks like you’re smiling.”

Shaw felt her face immediately drop into a glower as she turned her head, spotting, for the first time, Root, who was lounging on a bench a few feet away.

How Shaw had missed her was a complete mystery. It wasn’t like the part was overly crowded, and Root was kind of hard to miss, what with her leather jacket, black jeans, and heeled boots. Not to mention she was, you know, _five feet away_.

Smiling, the other woman stood, her walk over to Shaw only halting for a moment as Bear too seemed to notice their uninvited guest, but he, unlike Shaw, felt the need to race over, butting his head against her leg until she bent down to scratch him between the ears.

With his urge satisfied, Bear went back to his snuffling with only a slight bark.

Root smiled down at Shaw, her three inch high heels giving her a significant height advantage over Shaw, who had chosen to wear more sensible combat boots for the walk. “Miss me?”

Shaw hadn’t seen Root in a few days, the other woman having disappeared on another Relevant mission for the machine with nothing more than a peck on the cheek at three in morning, leaving Shaw alone in an empty bed and a pot of coffee brewing the kitchen.

Shaw rolled her eyes, “Yeah, like a head cold.” Although she her words were harsh, Shaw knew Root could hear the underlying tone of… affection. That’s what Root would call it anyway. Shaw didn’t really know what to call it; it was more than tolerance – she _tolerated_ Fusco, she…

… was broken from her thoughts as Root pressed a quick kiss to her temple, her breath lightly ghosting across Shaw’s skin, causing the shorter woman to shiver slightly at the sensation.

“You know, I love your similes, Sameen.” Shaw snorted, pushing Root away with one hand, just registering how close the other woman had gotten.

And if Root took the gesture as an excuse to entwine their fingers, well, she _had_ just gotten back from a days long trip to God-knows-where, and Shaw didn’t feel like dealing with a pouty Root.

They continued the walk, Bear shuffling along in front of them, occasionally stopping to sniff at something or paw the ground, always looking back every couple of seconds as though to make sure that his girls were still there. Once or twice he bounded back, his head ramming into their entangled hands, edging to be pet. Of course they acquiesced, neither one of them were very good at denying Bear anything he wanted – his ever growing supply of dog toys and accessories were a testament to that – and every time he would happy bark and move away, Shaw always found her fingers once more wrapped around Root’s.

The air was silent between them, each taking their own pleasure from simply being around the other, not feeling the need to fill the space with empty words or mindless chatter.

Suddenly Shaw felt Root tug on her hand. Looking over, she saw Root’s attention focused on the small food truck parked a little ways up the path. With a smile, she turned to Shaw.

“I’m gonna grab a coffee, you want one, Sweetie?” Shaw nodded, not bothering to tell Root exactly what she wanted; Root already knew.

So instead she watched as Root made her way over, a smile on her face as she talked briefly with the attendant, before pulling out her wallet and some cash.

Shaw felt something ram into her thigh, and looking down, she saw Bear gazing up at her quizzically, his head tilted to the side and his flipped his gaze between her and Root.

“You got something to say?” He barked once before licking her hand, the same one that had been holding Root’s.

“If you want to tell me something, you’re gonna have to be a little clearer buddy.”

“Sweetie, are you talking to the dog?” Root’s voice was full of amusement, and Shaw glanced up, her eyes meeting the other woman’s, whose were bright with mischief, delight, and something else, something that caused her heart to skip a beat and her breath to catch.

Shaw shrugged, swallowing slightly; she didn’t trust her voice, not with Root looking at her like _that_.

“And Lionel calls _me_ Coco Puffs.” Shaw let out a huff at the teasing tone, reaching out to motion for the coffee, which Root handed over with a small smile, causing Shaw’s heart to stutter yet again.

“Talking to your pet is perfectly normal, talking to an artificial intelligence speaking directly into your ear, on the other hand, is not.” Root grinned; a toothy, perfectly imperfect grin.

“Well then,” she moved closer, careful of Shaw’s hand, which while being previously occupied with Root’s own, was now full of coffee, in order to wrap her arm around Shaw’s waist, her fingers slipping through Shaw’s belt loop, tugging the other woman closer, “I guess it’s a good thing you don’t like normal, huh?”

Shaw couldn’t hide the small smile that appeared as Root once again leaned closer, her lips brushing against Shaw’s temple, hovering just slightly against her skin until she turned her head, tilting her face enough to meet Root’s lips with her own.

The position was a little awkward – since Root was taller then she was _without_ the heels, so Shaw found herself pressing up on her toes, her hand with the coffee pressed between them – but it felt perfect to her.

Pulling back slightly, Shaw felt Root smile against her lips, their foreheads pressed together, and while Shaw wasn’t really sure what happiness felt like, she thought this was it.

Behind them, someone coughed, rather pointedly.

Dropping back on her feet, Shaw turned to find a couple facing them; they appeared to be not much older than Shaw herself, so she put them probably about early to mid-thirties, and while the woman’s expression showed faint discomfort, the man’s was clearly disgust.

Walking between them, a young girl stared rather blatantly at two older woman, her face one of curiosity.

“Can I help you?” Shaw wasn’t really feeling the whole having to deal with people; she just wanted to get back to the walk, and maybe the kissing. Judging from Root’s face, she agreed with the kissing part, and from the way Bear was butting between the two, he wanted to get on with the adventure.

The woman flushed slightly, her discomfort becoming more apparent as Shaw addressed them. “Umm… no. I mean… well… it’s just...”

“We’re in a public place.” Shaw raised an eyebrow as the man cut in, his voice full of displeasure.

Shaw didn’t bother to respond, simply staring blankly at the man, despite his pause as though he were expecting one.

“A _public_ place,” he repeated, once again pausing after his sentence.

Shaw blinked.

She noted that the man appeared to be getting more and more frustrated with her lack of response.

She also noted that Root appeared to be trying very, very hard not to laugh.

“ _A public_ -“

“Yeah, I got that,” Shaw cut him off, not really interested in hearing him repeat himself for the third time, “are you just planning on standing there and pointing out the obvious, or do you have an actual point to make?”

Now it was the man’s turn to blink, and Shaw watched as his face grew stormy at her dismissive tone.

“We’re in a public place, _and_ I would _appreciate_ it if you didn’t set such an abhorrent example for my daughter.” For a moment, Shaw was sort of confused, not really sure what he could be talking about, until she saw him gesturing between Root and herself.

Beside her, Root froze, also seemingly having gotten the message for the first time as well.

“I mean really,” the man dropped his daughter’s hand, gesturing more emphatically at the two women, his lip curling in disgust, “it’s bad enough that you that if you spend your private lives disrespecting God, you don’t have to flaunt for it for everyone else to see.”

Shaw raised an eyebrow, somewhat mildly impressed – even if the man was a douche bag, Shaw had to admit she gave the man points for his brazenness.

However, that didn’t overshadow the fact that he was a douche bag, and that while Shaw might be unaffected by his words, Root was clearly unhappy with the situation and the slowly growing crowd of spectators.

“Well, I appreciate your concern for our spiritual lives,” Shaw rolled her eyes, “but I’m pretty sure God couldn’t give less of a rat’s ass about what I do in my _private life_.”

The man gaped at her; he clearly wasn’t expecting that response. Honestly, Shaw wasn’t sure he had been expecting a response at all.

The wife on the other hand, gasped and grabbed at the golden cross hanging around her neck.

“How dare you say such a thing?” she spit at Shaw, stepping closer as she too released her daughter’s hand, who was still standing there, apparently not understanding what was going on.

Shaw tilted her head, staring coldly at the woman, “Because it’s true?”

“God cares about _everything_ we do.”

Shaw snorted to herself, her eyes flickering briefly to the blinking red light she could see on the telephone pole about fifteen feet away.

 _Believe me, I know_.

The woman glared at Shaw, her eyes cold and shocked. “You think something’s funny?”

“Actually, yes.” Shaw tilted her head, her slight smirk becoming more pronounced as she calmly gazed at the couple, “You.”

The woman stepped back, her mouth dropping open in shock as her partner stepped forward, his eyes blazing with anger.

“How _dare_ you speak to me and my wife like that.”

Shaw’s smirk disappeared as the man’s voice rose in anger, “You keep talking to me and mine like that, I’ll do more than talk.”

Some members of the crowd started muttering to themselves as the man’s jaw tightened. Shaw watched with mild interest as his wife stepped back, grabbing the couples daughter and picking her up, pulling her away from what Shaw was sure to be a fight.

Shaw kept her eyes locked on those of the man staring her down, but could feel as Root glanced around, taking in the situation.

“Umm, Sweetie?” Shaw heard Root’s voice, tinged with the slightest amount of apprehension, quietly in her ear, “I understand wanting to teach this asshat a lesson, but I also have a small feeling we’re a little bit outnumbered right now, and you know Harry would be disappointed if we ended up in jail.”

Shaw felt her hand tighten around Bear’s leash as the man stepped forward, preparing for a fight as she stepped slightly in front of Root.

One minute, Shaw was getting ready for a fight, the man in front of her gearing up for either a physical confrontation or a verbal one, and the next Bear was lunging forward, jaws snapping, growling like a Mac truck.

The man jerked back, his wife letting out a small scream as Bear strained against his leash, only Shaw’s strength keeping him at bay.

“Bear, _hou op_!” Shaw frowned, her arm jerking forward slightly as Bear ignored her command, still straining towards the man, jumping up onto his hindlegs as he pulled against Shaw’s iron grip. “ _Heil_ , Bear, _heil_!”

Slowly, Bear started to back off, still growling as he paced, bristling, in front of Root and Shaw. 

“’Scuse me fellas, what’s going on here?” Immediately, Bear calmed down as he heard the familiar voice, while the two women watched as the curly haired cop pushed his way through the crowd.

***

Once within the small circle of spectators, Fusco looked between the his two friends – Root’s arm still wrapped around Shaw’s waist (a look Lionel was sure he was never going to get used to) and the normally docile dog, now barking and bristling – and the terrified couple standing a few feet away; the woman was clutching her daughter as though she expected Bear to suddenly break free and rip the child from her grip.

Which was ridiculous, considering Bear would never hurt a kid; anyone else, maybe, but not a kid.

“There a problem?” He flashed his badge, and immediately the group of spectators began to disperse, leaving the cop alone with the two couples.

The man was first to step forward. “That… that… _bitch_ ,” Fusco had the distinct impression that the man wasn’t talking about Bear, “threatened my family before ordering her damn mutt to attack!”

Now, it wasn’t that Fusco _didn’t_ believe the man – honestly, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for Shaw, or even Root for that matter, to threaten some one and have Bear attack them (he knows, they’ve done it) – but usually that was in the context of saving one of their numbers, not just while having what appeared to be a rather normal (if not romantic) walk in the park.

He nodded slowly, before giving his friends another once over; they were standing hip to hip, each holding a cup of still steaming coffee, looking probably the _least_ threatening he had ever seen them – aside from the time that he walked into the station to see Root dressed like an astronaut while Shaw was, for some reason, handcuffed to the bench (he didn’t ask at the time, and he had _absolutely_ no desire to do so now).

He looked back at the other couple; the woman looked fairly nonthreatening, one arm clutching her daughter, and the other hand clutching at something around her neck, and the man was a couple of feet in front of them, anger radiating from him with every breath.

“Right.” He nodded again, looking back at Bear, who looked significantly calmer now that he saw the cop had arrived, “Well, it looks to me like there was some kind of misunderstanding, and the dog here got spooked. He looked to his friends, “Am I right?”

“Trust me officer, there was _no_ misunderstanding.” The man tried again, stepping towards Fusco, only to Bear immediately start barking, again trying to lunge towards the man, who, again, jumped back.

“I think it would be best if you and your family moved along now.” Fusco gently prodded the couple and their child back the way he assumes they would have come from, “I’ll take care of this.”

With another disgusted look at the two women, the man grabbed his wife’s arm, pulling her away.

As soon as the couple was out of ear shot, Lionel turned to his friends. “You _didn’t_ threaten and sick Bear on them, did you?” He had to ask.

Shaw shrugged, “I may have said something about not _just_ talking, but I guess Bear didn’t like them much.” Lionel watched as she looked down at the dog – who, as soon as the couple had moved along, had gone back to being his normal, happy self; he was now butting his head into Lionel’s leg and sniffing the ground around his shoes – and he could have sworn that he saw a smile on her face. “He’s always had good judgment.”

Fusco snorted. “Well that can’t be true, after all, he likes you and Coco Puffs.”

Shaw looked up, her small smile gone from her face, although Fusco could still see it in her eyes.

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you.”


End file.
